Midway Conversations
by Literastiel
Summary: These are the phone calls, the emails, the letters and the conversations that Sakura and Syaoran shared from when he left until he returned.
1. The Day He Left

Sakura laid flat, chin up on her pillow, with her arms loosely folded around the little bear Syaoran. She'd been taking care of him all this time, but she'd never looked at him the way she did now. Now that Syaoran was gone. She was still wearing her pink dress, even now that it was 7 hours later. She didn't know what she was waiting for, but she didn't find herself wanting to do anything else. Even Kero had tried and failed to summon a genuine smile out of her since she'd come back. Every expression she made just looked tired. Kero suspected that there were only two people who really had a chance of lifting her spirits, and neither of them had called in yet. It really surprised him that Tomoyo hadn't called; normally she would be here in an instant with an arsenal of tea and advice at the ready. But she hadn't. Had she decided that Sakura needed time alone? Maybe that was what she needed right now. But it was 6 o'clock, if she stayed any longer she'd miss dinner. He wafted out of his desk and hovered over to her, tentative in how he flapped his wings so he didn't distress her.

BZZZ BZZZ

Kero was stunned by the phone ringing and fell out of the air, but Sakura was instantly on her feet running over to her desk where she left her mobile. She snatched it up and couldn't contain herself.

"Syaoran!" she squeaked.  
"Sakura?" replied a male voice over a crackly line. "It's Eriol."  
"Oh, Eriol," sighed Sakura, clearly disappointed as she slid to the floor. "Hello."  
"My, my, don't you sound happy?" His smile, as ever, was present in his tone.  
"I'm sorry, Eriol," repealed Sakura. "I didn't mean-"  
"It's quite all right, I know." Answered Eriol. "I know today has been hard for you. And you had to think about what I asked, yes?"  
"You knew." It had long ceased being a question whether Eriol knew these things or not. "But yes, I did. You were right."  
"And?" encouraged Eriol.  
"Syaoran and I… we feel the same about each other," she confessed.  
"Excellent, I'll open up the phone line," said Eriol, clipping into the end tone.  
"Hoe?"  
"Sakura?" a new, familiar voice called. "Are you there?"  
Sakura's heart leapt up and down. "Syaoran?"  
There was tiniest of pauses until he said. "Yes, it's me."  
"Syaoran!" burst Sakura, grinning and laughing and crying just a little bit. She could see the shocked face he was probably making at her exclamation, but she was just so happy to hear his voice. She reigned herself in enough to continue talking. "Are you okay? How was the flight? Are you tired? I miss you."  
"…" Syaoran was definitely as red as a raspberry, but Sakura couldn't help but fret that his silenced equalled his disappearance.  
"Syaoran?" peeped Sakura. "Are you still there?"  
"Yes, I'm here," he replied, settling her poor heart. "I miss you also."  
She beamed at nothing. "How's Hong Kong?"  
"It's nice to be back home," he answered. "My sisters picked me up from the airport and my mother was there when I got home. I tried calling after I unpacked, but the line was busy."  
"Oh, that must have been Eriol. He called," explained Sakura.  
"Hiragizawa?" repeated Syaoran. "What did he say?"  
"He…uh…" Sakura's face glowed pink at the thought of having to verbalise what Eriol knew. "He wanted to know how…if…you and I…felt about…each other."  
Syaoran froze at her words. "He…knew?"  
"Yeah," said Sakura.  
Syaoran stopped and chuckled a little. "Of course, Hiragizawa knew."

At that, Sakura laughed too. She'd thought about what her days would be like if she never heard Syaoran's voice again or was able to turn around and see him in the desk behind her, and even now that there were no Cards or big problems she realised that they may never fight alongside each other again. And the thought broke her heart. To never see Syaoran again… It would be like never seeing Tomoyo; never been shot on camera, never dressing up, never holding hands as they walked. She couldn't bear the thought of being without either of them. And yet, even with Syaoran so far away, the sound of his voice felt like it just might be enough.

"Sakura!" hollered her father. "Dinner's ready."  
"I'll be right down!" she called back. She returned to the phone. "Syaoran, I have to go, but I'll call you later! I promise!"  
"Okay, I'll talk to you soon," said Syaoran. "Good night, Sakura."  
"Good night, Syaoran."

Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you all a question. Guess who's back? That's right! I'm back on that Fanfic scene! Now, I ain't promising a lot, I still got my business, but I wanted to do a little something something. So, whilst you review and tell me how much you liked my work and how much you're glad I'm back, I will keep working. And as always, I'll see you next time.

Ja Ne


	2. Girlfriend

"Why is this so hard? I was just beginning to understand you," complained Sakura, holding her hand to her forehead as she stared down at her maths homework. "What's a surd?"

Sakura felt herself get dizzy as the numbers stared up at her from the open pages of her homework book. Mr Terada had gone over everything in class that day when he'd set the homework, and Sakura had thought she'd understood it just fine then but it had completely flown out of her head. She sighed and tried tapping her pencil against the paper, just in case she couldn't find the answer in Morse code. Kero, good willed as he was, had tried to help but whilst he had picked up an accent from Osaka, he had failed to pick up any mathematical prowess, so he left her to it. She was on the verge of giving up when he phone began buzzing next to her book.

BZZZ BZZZ

Sakura jumped at the sound of the phone but jumped in her seat, glee rising in her face. She must not have noticed the time. Every other day at 7pm in Japan, that being 6pm in China, Syaoran phoned her. He always called at the same time to avoid inconveniencing Sakura by calling her when she was busy. Still, Sakura was the type to lose track of time if she was focusing too hard on something else. She grabbed the phone quickly and answered the call.

"Syaoran!" beamed Sakura.  
"Hi," greeted Syaoran, sounding both tired and pleased.  
Suddenly, Sakura's face soured and her voice crumbled in defeat. "Oh, Syaoran!" And she dramatically let her head fall onto her book, succumbing to mat's hateful reign.  
"Sakura! What's wrong? Are you hurt?" asked Syaoran, his voice instantly tensing, filled with panic. "Sakura! What's happening?"  
"Syaoran!" wailed Sakura.  
"Sakura?" Syaoran kept his voice calm, not wishing to distress her further.  
"Syaoran, what are surds?" asked Sakura.

…

"Yes! It's done!" cheered Sakura, lifting her book up into the air so that it eclipsed the light, casting an artificial halo. She closed the book and laid it flat down on her desk. She snatched up her phone and span onto her bed. "Thank you so much, Syaoran. I couldn't have done it without you."  
"I'm happy to help," answered Syaoran. "But I'm sure you would've worked it out for yourself eventually."  
"But you still helped me," she smiled. "Oh! But we've barely spoken. How was your day?"  
"Oh, it was fine," said Syaoran, a chuckle still in his voice. "There are a few tests coming up tomorrow, but I'm sure they won't be too difficult."  
"That's great. You're so smart, I know you'll do great," said Sakura. "Oh! By the way, if I wanted to send you a letter, where could I send it?"  
"A letter?" queried Syaoran. "I could give you my home address. Do you want to write it down?"

Sakura lurched up and grabbed for a pen and a free piece of paper. She told Syaoran she was ready and listened to his description of how to write the Mandarin kanji for his address. It was said that the original Japanese kanji took from the Chinese, but it was clear how they'd evolved away from each other. Sakura found herself thinking about how hard Syaoran must have had to work to be able to keep up in Japanese. Every realisation she made about him astounded her. There was so much about Syaoran that she'd overlooked; so much that was incredible.

"Are you sure you don't need me to describe it again?" asked Syaoran, uncertain whether describing foreign kanji was really a good idea. He didn't want Sakura to put in as much effort as she put into everything she did, only for her letter to get lost.  
"I'm sure! Thanks, Syaoran," answered Sakura genuinely. "You're home now right? What're you going to do?"  
"Yeah, I'm not sure," admitted Syaoran. "I think it's nearly time for dinner though."

Sakura was about to ask another question when she heard a boom and a crash, stunning her silent. She heard a loud voice calling Syaoran's name as if he'd been calling him for ages and had received no response.

"Who're you talking to in here? It's time for dinner!" called the voice. It sounded like a girl.  
"Meilin, please calm down," asked Syaoran, retaining his usually calm tone.  
"I've been calling you for five minutes," the voice grew closer to the phone until Sakura could hear her very clearly. Clearly, this girl had no issues with volume. "Now, who did you say you were talking to?"  
"Meilin, give back my phone!" hollered Syaoran, his voice distancing.  
"What does this even say?" said Meilin. "Oh, it's a Japanese name. Sa-ku-ra? Sakura. Is this Sakura?"  
"Um, yes?" answered Sakura.  
"Who are you exactly?" inquired Meilin. "And what exactly is your relationship with Syaoran?"  
"Um! I'm Sakura, Kinomoto Sakura," answered Sakura, nervous about what to say. "Uh, Syaoran and I- we- um- we're friends and-"  
"Meilin!" yelled Syaoran once more. The scuffle that came across the line seemed to imply wrestling over the device until Syaoran's voice came through. "Sakura, I'm sorry about my cousin."  
"You call her by her first name?" yelled Meilin, tone turning from incredulous to impressed. "Who is this girl?"  
"She is the new Master of the Cards and my-" said Syaoran, stopping himself suddenly. But now, everybody was listening even more intently to the silence.  
"Your what, Syaoran?" asked Meilin, her tone sly. "Your what?"  
"Ah, my, uh," he stammered.  
"Master of the Cards and~" she urged, teasingly.  
"I'm his girlfriend!" hollered Sakura.

There was a beat of silence, and then.

"Kyaa!" screamed Meilin. There was the sound of the door slamming open again and Meilin chanting 'SYAORAN HAS A GIRLFRIEND' throughout the house.  
"I have to go," said Syaoran, his exhaustion returning full force.  
"Okay," replied Sakura. "I'm sorry if I said something I shouldn't have, I just didn't…"  
"It's not a problem, really. I was going to tell her eventually, but she is very…loud," assured Syaoran, his good-humour resurfacing. "I'll talk to you later. Bye."  
"Goodbye."

Okay, before anyone fights me. I am using the manga timeline and yes, I know Meilin isn't in the manga, but that's not to say she doesn't exist in that universe. And I for one refuse to believe that she wouldn't, so deal.

But other than that, you know that your reviews are welcome and your criticisms are encouraged. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I will see you next time.

Ja Ne


	3. Letters on the Breeze

Syaoran was sat at his desk with his dark green dressing gown tied tight around his waist with a black cord. He was filling at some more paperwork. Ever since he returned to Hong Kong, there seemed to be stacks of paper that he needed to fill out; whether it be school forms or moving forms or detailed reports on the events in Tomoeda, even apologies to the Li Council and Elders for failing to return with the Clow Cards. For all of Reed's celebrated prophetic powers, he didn't seem too bothered about letting his descendants knows that they would not inherit the Clow Cards. Although, had he done that, Syaoran would never have found himself in Tomoeda. So for that, he would be eternally grateful. He sighed and looked at his clock. 23:42. Japan was an hour ahead, so it would've been 00:42. He wondered if Sakura was asleep, hoping she was doing so peacefully. She mentioned that she'd had a weird dream a few days ago. If it was something dangerous, he'd never forgive himself for being so far away. He felt a yawn form over his tongue, but he tried desperately not to succumb to it. If he yawned, it was akin to admitting defeat and he'd have to stop working. If he could get through this last stapled pack, then he'd go to sleep.

Suddenly the lamplight on his desk was coupled by a straining luminescence trying to escape from inside his drawer. He shuffled his chair back and opened the drawer immediately, struggling to think what he could've put in there that would ever have this kind of reaction. As he peered in, he recognised the light and design of the Rashinban. The magic compass was designed to track active Clow Cards, but there were only Sakura Cards now, right? The Rashinban's light shifted in the air and focused, firing a fine string straight out of the window. Syaoran snatched it up and followed the light out onto his balcony, throwing the doors open and looking out to see if he could spot where the beam pointed. He searched the horizon, looking for where the light seemed to fade away, but following the line he thought he could spot something just off the horizon. He could. Only it wasn't staying at the horizon. It was coming here, and quickly. The breeze caught in the entity's power and began to rush around Syaoran; the flaps of his dressing gown began to whip up and down as the breeze became a gale, and the gale became a gust. Syaoran raised his arm and protected his face against the dust being caught up against him until he was finally forced to squeeze his eyes shut. Then, it stopped. Everything was calm. Syaoran lowered his arm slowly, daring to open his eyes again. He staggered at the sight of the elvine, glowing stature of The Windy Card.

"Windy?" gasped Syaoran. "What are you doing here?"

Windy reached underneath her scaly wings and retrieved two letters, passing them quietly to Syaoran.

"For me?" he asked, taking them politely. He looked down at them; they had different handwritings, if he had to guess the one on top was Sakura's and the other might have been Tomoyo's. He looked back up to Windy and before he could ask his next question, she had drawn herself into streams of white and yellow until she regained her pink paper form and trailed onto the letter pile.

Instantly, Syaoran returned inside and gently closed the door. He took the letters and The Windy Card and sat back down at his desk. His previous paperwork was suddenly a lot less important as he carefully unfolded the first envelope.

Dear Syaoran,

I hope Windy won't startle you when she arrives with these letters, but I wanted to surprise you. I know you've been staying up light for the past few weeks because of all of your work, so I wanted to let you know I was thinking of you. And even though we're far apart and I miss you so much, sometimes it still feels like you're still around in a way. Yamazaki misses you too, almost as much as I do.

And about my dreams, I'm starting to understand them. It seems that there's something happening at the Tsukimine Shrine, but I'm sure I'll be all right. Toya was the one who recognised that it might be a spirit that's been getting stronger over the years and is starting to cause trouble. I think Toya might even be starting to get some of his sixth sense back. I asked Yue if it was possible and he said it might be, so I'm hoping that's what it is. Tomoyo's already designing the outfit. Tomoyo sent the other letter by the way. I know you'll worry about not being here, but I promise I'll be all right. And I'll prove that the strength and the courage you've given me are enough to get me through anything. Of course, if it were the other way around, I'm sure I'd be super worried about you, even if you asked me not to, so I won't ask. Instead, I'll say thank you again for helping me get this far.

Thank you, Syaoran

Love, Sakura

Syaoran held the paper in his hand, having to remind himself not to hold it too tightly or it'd crinkle. He wanted to keep this, save it and cherish it. He gently replaced it into the envelope and nestled it carefully in the corner of his desk, right at the bottom so that anything he put in there wouldn't damage it. He leaned back in his chair and let a smile break across his face. This girl. This wonderful girl.

After revelling in his fine taste in women, Syaoran brought himself back enough to read Tomoyo's letter.

Dear Li,

I hope you're doing well back in Hong Kong, and I'm certain you're very busy but it'd be lovely to hear back from you. I couldn't be more pleased for you and Sakura. She's so happy that you're still in her life. You'll be glad to know that Tomoeda is managing very well since there are no more mysterious disasters. Although opportunities to film our dear Sakura have dwindled, it has only fuelled to make the costumes she does wear so spectacular as to suffice for all the missed chances.

Now, I do have one question to ask you. My mother's company has started working on products that are called Domestic Technology; mostly computers and laptops, combined with the cell phones that we already produce, there's room to advance mobile technology into a whole new era. My question is, do you have a computer with a webcam? If so, there are programs that allow two people with webcams to see and talk to each other. I'll recommend some if you do have a computer. Also, if you have any opinions on the products of our Chinese competitors, let me know. Thank you.

From, Tomoyo

P.S. Kero was asking if anyone in the Li family inherited Clow Reed's mother's teacake recipe. If so, he requests that you send a copy at your next convenience.

It was 00:23. Syaoran was going to reply tonight, but he wouldn't underestimate how touched he was by receiving these letters. Sakura sent these to him with, knowing that Windy wouldn't fail. She wanted him to know that she cared and missed him. And with that thought, he went to bed and slept straight until morning.


	4. A Sign of Strength

Sakura looked at her hair at every angle she could in her mirror. She had been purposely growing her hair out and she wanted to see if she'd made any progress – apparently not. She'd taken the hairbands out of her hair and was fluffing it up from underneath, but her efforts seemed to have so far been in vain. She was going to a school event with Tomoyo in a few days and whilst her appearances weren't her greatest priority, Sakura still liked to look nice. She looked over her desk for her hairbrush, but her eyes caught at her cards. When she looked across them she could _hear_ that the Windy card was missing. Kero said it was because Windy was in charge of communication and her absence would leave a _silence_ around the cards, especially since Windy was Sakura's first card. That _silence_ made her want to do nothing more than call out to Windy all the way in Hong Kong and summon her back, but she stopped herself. She entrusted Windy with the instruction that once Syaoran indicated that his responses were ready she would fly them and herself back home. Without much else to do, Sakura gathered herself and left to meet Tomoyo.

~\\*/~

Sakura closed her bedroom door by falling against it, sighing as she sunk to her butt. The dance was almost turned into a disaster by a pack of rogue hobgoblins. They spilled drinks, tripped people over, flipped up skirts and dresses and nearly tore down all the doors on top of people. Granted, hobgoblins are more like pests than actual problems, but they still needed to be dealt with. And such a duty fell to the Master of the Cards, who was frankly exhausted by the ordeal. She had originally thought that she could turn Shield inside out to make a cage and use Move to gather them all, but they turned invisible, which meant that she had to use Time to freeze time, then Sand to find where they were, Sand again to get rid of all the sand, then they all focused an attack on Shield and cracked through so she had to go through the whole thing again except she used Loop on them, then she had to call Kero and ask what to do with them and it was all just a giant kerfuffle and she wanted to go to bed.

Kero was, no doubt, fast asleep at this point. He'd called her when she was on her way home and she said that she was going to go straight to bed anyway so he might as well sleep, but they'd talk in the morning. She pushed herself up off of the ground and changed into her pyjamas, put a comb through her hair lazily and allowed herself to be lured in by the silent siren song of her bed. She lifted up the covers, put her knee on the mattress to start shuffling in and her windows suddenly opened wide. She turned around instantly and watched the yellow streams herald Windy into the room. Sakura watched as Windy gracefully folded from the outside world into her bedroom. The card looked at her mistress and smiled kindly before dissipating into her card and three envelopes. Sakura was instantly on her feet again racing over to the card and the letters. She lifted up The Windy Card and held her to her chest, thanking her sincerely for her work before reuniting her with the rest of the cards.

Sakura then eagerly turned to the envelopes and read the names on each of them: Sakura, Tomoyo and Cerberus. Obviously Sakura wouldn't open the ones that weren't for her so she set them down on top of each other next to the cards, but she clutched her letter and opened it so carefully. She smiled at Syaoran's neat, simple language. As strong as his spoken Japanese was, his written Japanese often faltered when he wasn't being formal.

Dear Sakura,

Thank you for your letter. Knowing that you're still there thinking of me as much as I think of you is more than enough to keep me going, even despite all the paperwork. You're always thinking of others and doing what you can to help. It's one of the things I love about you. Don't worry, Windy didn't startle me so much as it startled one of the neighbour's dogs, but I don't think anyone else saw her. Animals are far more attuned to that sort of thing, cats especially. I think that's why Clow Reed and Eriol created Cerberus and Spinel Sun in those forms. I hope you know that not a day goes by that I don't think about it you too.  
About the Tsukimine Shrine, I think I might know something. There's an old story about how the Sun follows the Moon and vice versa, perhaps without Ms Mizuki or her bell some sort of power might be trying to fill the space. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful. If I was there, I'm sure we could figure something out together and deal with it quickly, but I'll do my best over here, just like I know you're doing yours. As for all that courage and strength, those are all yours. I didn't help that much. It was all your own power and I know it'll only grow until you're even greater than Clow Reed, and when that happens I may not be able to help as much but I promise to still do all that I can. I will be worried about you, I hate not being there, but I know you can handle it.  
You're strong, Sakura. I know you are. Whatever comes your way, you can handle it. I will help you as much as I can, but I'm sure you'll be all right.

Love Syaoran.

P.S. Tell Yamazaki that I miss him too.

Sakura found herself laughing at the last line. She laughed until she remembered the time and let it simmer into a giggle as she folded the letter, tucked it under her pillow and fell asleep atop it, with her hand still gently holding it. She would reply in the morning, but as much as she wanted to she could no longer keep her eyes open. Slumber and the thought of Syaoran sat at a desk writing to her quickly immersed her and she smiled in her sleep.


End file.
